1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a riding saddle having a pair of flexible skirts attached under the side bars of the saddle tree, which provide for continuous, conforming, supportive contact between the saddle and the back of a horse.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Bruising and soreing of a horse's back is seemingly a perpetual problem with known prior art riding saddles, because these saddles concentrate the combined weight of saddle and rider (or pack) at a relatively few points of contact between the saddle and the back of the horse. Bruising results at these points of contact when the pressure exceeds 11/2 pounds per square inch, which is the amount of pressure considered to be the maximum before bruising occurs.
For example, a typical western-type saddle includes a tree frame with two relatively straight side bars. The natural sway of a horse's back in the vicinity of the center of these bars often prevents supporting contact between the horse's back and the bars at this point. As a result, the combined weight of saddle and rider is supported at the four areas of contact in the vicinity of the forward and rearward portions of each bar. The total effective supportive contact area with this type of saddle (ill-fitting) is typically about 36 square inches, which results in about 51/2 pounds of pressure per square inch of contact, for a 200 pound load well in excess of the recommended 11/2 pounds per square inch. The amount of pressure exerted by the forward part of the saddle is even more concentrated because saddles are desirably designed to concentrate more of the weight at the forward end of the saddle to be more directly over the horse's front legs. The bruising problem is particularly aggravated when the horse is under saddle for long periods of time over rough terrain. These conditions commonly occur during competitive endurance riding.
Numerous prior art devices have attempted to solve the bruising and soreing problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,440 to Walker, et el. provides a lightweight, rigid saddle. This saddle, however, does not specifically conform to the shape of a horse's back and as a result the weight of the rider and saddle may be distributed to only a few points of contact, depending upon the shape of the individual horse's back. Even though the saddle is designed to be lightweight, this does nothing to lessen the weight of the rider or distribute the weight evenly over the surface of the horse's back.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,467 to Salisbury provides for a custom, molded fiberglass, reinforced saddle. This saddle evenly distributes the weight of the rider and saddle over the back of the horse when the horse is at rest, however, the saddle does not flex to conform to the continuously changing configuration of the horse's back as it is moving. That is, the shoulders of the horse change shape as the horse moves and inasmuch as the weight of the rider and saddle tend to be concentrated at the forward end of the saddle, on the sides of the withers, the bruising and soreing problem continues. Secondly, a custom made saddle is very expensive and is not effective for use on a different horse nor even for the particular horse for which it was designed if the horse loses or gains weight.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,353,622 to Boyle provides for rigid contact plates supported by ball and socket joints at the front and rear of each rail of the saddle. These contact plates do not flex and are unable to continuously conform to the changing shape of the horse's back as it moves. Additionally, the individual plates are not intended to flex in order to conform to the shape of the horse's back.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,621 to Gorenschek provides for a flexible saddle tree in which the entire saddle is flexible. The invention of the Gorenschek patent requires that the tree frame on the saddle itself be flexible and does not allow for a standard rigid tree frame to be adapted for flexible conforming fit with the back of a horse. That is to say, the Gorenschek invention cannot be used with a saddle having a rigid tree frame.